A place where I post a photo each day, which you can download and use as a desktop image.
These are all my original photos and you are welcome to use them for your personal purposes. If you wish to use them commercially, please contact me.

Friday, 25 September 2015

Azolla filiculoides (Water Fern) is a species of the family Azollaceae, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas as well as most of the old world including Asia and Australia. It is a floating aquatic fern, with very fast growth, capable of spreading over lake surfaces to give complete coverage of the water in only a few months.

Each individual plant is 1-2 cm across, green tinged pink, orange or red at the edges, branching freely, and breaking into smaller sections as it grows. It is not tolerant of cold temperatures, and in temperate regions it largely dies back in winter, surviving by means of submerged buds. Like other species of Azolla, it can fix nitrogen from the air.

The species has been introduced to many regions of the Old World, grown for its nitrogen-fixing ability which can be utilised to enhance the growth rate of crops grown in water like rice, or by removal from lakes for use as green manure. It has become naturalised, sometimes also an invasive species, in several regions, including western Europe, southern Africa, tropical Asia, Australia (where it is considered native), and New Zealand.

Thursday, 24 September 2015

Arctotheca calendula is a plant in the Asteraceae family commonly known as cape weed, cape dandelion, or cape marigold because it originates from the Cape Province in South Africa. It is also found in neighboring KwaZulu-Natal. Arctotheca calendula is naturalised in California, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand, and considered a noxious weed in some of those places.

It is a squat perennial or annual which grows in rosettes and sends out stolons and can spread across the ground quickly. The leaves are covered with white woolly hairs, especially on their undersides. The leaves are lobed or deeply toothed. Hairy stems bear daisy-like flowers with small yellow petals that sometimes have a green or purple tint surrounded by white or yellow ray petals extending further out from the flower centers.

It is cultivated as an attractive ornamental groundcover but has invasive potential when introduced to a new area. The plant can reproduce vegetatively or via seed. Seed-bearing plants are most likely to become weedy, taking hold most easily in bare or sparsely vegetated soil or disturbed areas.This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

Thursday, 17 September 2015

Attractive, dense ferny foliage makes Polemonium pulcherrimum 'Blue Dove' (also known as Jacob's ladder) a valuable plant for all year round interest in the garden. As an added bonus loose sprays of open bell shaped flowers in a soft shade of blue can appear from spring right through to and including autumn. Its 'lacy' appearance makes it a useful plant for softening hard lines and edges created by rocks, garden edging or paving.

Polemonium is a genus comprising of around 30 species of mostly perennial herbs which are native to regions of North and Central America, Europe and Asia. An excellent plant for general garden use and suitable for most colour schemes. 'Blue Dove' looks particularly at home in woodland type settings or in the cottage garden. It may be grown in semi shade although this may decrease flower production. This, however, is not necessarily a reason to avoid planting it in such locations as the attractive foliage alone will lend a visual appeal to these often difficult landscaping zones. To accent the foliage further create a foil of foliage behind it using larger, broader leafed plants or those with tall slender foliage such as that of Irises.This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Symi also transliterated Syme or Simi (Greek: Σύμη) is a Greek island and municipality. It is mountainous and includes the harbour town of Symi and its adjacent upper town Ano Symi, as well as several smaller localities, beaches, and areas of significance in history and mythology. Symi is part of the Rhodes regional unit. The shipbuilding and sponge industries were substantial on the island and, while at their peak near the end of the 19th century, the population reached 22,500. Symi's main industry is now tourism and the population has declined to 2,500.This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

Tuesday, 8 September 2015

Eucalyptus caesia, commonly known as Caesia, Gungurru or Silver Princess, is a mallee of the Eucalyptus genus. It is endemic to the central Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, where it is found on a small number of granite outcrops. The name "silver" refers to the white powder that covers the branches, flower buds and fruit. "Gungurru" comes from the name used by the indigenous Noongar people. Two subspecies have been identified: caesia (about 6–9 metres tall) and magna (up to 15 metres tall). The bark is red-brown, of the curly minni ritchi type. Branches tend to flail or weep on the ground. Trees have large red-pink or white flowers, 40-50mm in diameter. They are widely grown as ornamental native plants, but have become rare in the wild.This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme,and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

Monday, 7 September 2015

Muscari is a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, most commonly blue, urn-shaped flowers resembling bunches of grapes in the spring. The common name for the genus is grape hyacinth (a name which is also used for the related genera Leopoldia and Pseudomuscari, which were formerly included in Muscari). Other common names are baby's breath and bluebell, although these are also used for other plants, particularly Gypsophila and Hyacinthoides respectively. A number of species of Muscari are used as ornamental garden plants.This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,and also part of the Macro Monday meme.

Friday, 4 September 2015

Acanthus mollis, commonly known as bear's breeches, sea dock, bearsfoot or oyster plant, is a herbaceous perennial plant with an underground rhizome in the family Acanthaceae. It is regarded as an invasive species in some jurisdictions.The name of the genus derives from the Greek term ἄκανθος, akanthos, the name of the plant in Greek; it was imitated in Corinthian capitals; the word is related to ἄκανθα, akantha meaning "thorn" referring to the thorn-bearing sepals, or any thorny or prickly plant in Greek, while the Latin name of the species, mollis meaning "soft", "smooth", refers to the texture of the leaves.

Wednesday, 2 September 2015

This is a digital manipulation and collage based on a drawing I have done using coloured pencils and watercolour. The edits using Photoshop and digital photos were merged with the original drawing.In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek ἕξ hex, "six" and γωνία, gonía, "corner, angle") is a polygon with six edges and six vertices. This post is part of the ABC Wednesday meme,and also part of the Nature Footstep Digital Art Meme,and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

Tuesday, 1 September 2015

Osteospermum (African daisies or Cape daisies) are popular flowers in cultivation, where they are frequently used in summer bedding schemes in parks and gardens. Numerous hybrids and cultivars have been grown with a wide range of tropical colours (white, pink, magenta, purple, orange, red, bicoloured, yellow, single and double). Yellow cultivars tend to have a yellow centre (sometimes off-white). The hybrid shown here is Osteospermum ecklonis 'Zion Red'.